Published: Thursday, 27th January 2022
Yesterday Oldham Council, in partnership with Oldham Youth Justice Service launched an exciting new project to tackle youth violence in Oldham.
The overall aim of the GRIP project (Group Response and Early Collaborative Intervention Project) is to support the reduction of young people’s involvement in incidents of serious violence in the community. It’s been developed in response to an increase in group youth violence incidents within Limeside, Hollinwood and Failsworth areas.
It will enable partners to work closely together with all local services, including health, education, housing, the voluntary sector and the police. This close partnership work will make it so the project members can respond promptly to any arsing concerns and support young people to keep themselves safe.
Councillor Eddie Moores, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: “I’m glad to see this project coming together to tackle youth violence in Oldham. In order to make real change for young people, we need to work together and this project will enable us to do just that.
“We need to understand why we’re seeing an increase in violent incidents in order to keep those involved safe. This collaboration is a step in the right direction that I hope will let us respond quickly to any further incidents that might occur.”
The project has a wide range of exciting opportunities for young people to participate in, which will aim to increase confidence and self-esteem, develop hobbies and interests and raise personal aspirations.
A key aspect of the project is developing and building an understanding of community needs and working to support the development and sustainability of youth provisions in the area. The launch event on Wednesday 26 January provided a great opportunity for local services and partners to come together to gather information regarding current provision, potential provision development and available funding.